Saturday, May 25, 2013

The Situation
I arrived home the other day and found I had a text review for my newest book Murder Machine. I read the review and realized that the person hadn't read the book. They read the sample developed an opinion and left a review that they later extended making it more detailed. The reviewer didn't like the book based on the sample. I guess you could go read books that way, but that's not how I do it.

After I read the review I realized something. That on May 21st my book had been attacked by a large number of reviewers/trolls. It had actually started a week earlier. When I checked my other books I realized that they'd also been hit by the same people. These are not people who've read my book and unlike the text reviewer, they hadn't even read the sample.

I'd just heard of some other authors that had experienced this kind of thing. It all started to come together. I was being attacked because of my association with these other authors in various groups. These trolls are seeking out independent authors and intentionally railroading them. I looked further into the situation and found a list that most of them are on, but I know the numbers are much bigger than the list.

I don't think that Goodreads should allow reviewers to leave non-text reviews. When I'm looking at reviews I never pay attention to those who had nothing to say. In my case with Murder Machine, at least I knew the reviewer had read the sample. Which is not enough to judge that story by. They said the dialogue was flat and quoted my book in their review to show that. I don't think you should ever quote a book in your review, but if Goodreads allows it then it's within the rules.

Murder Machine opens with a court room scene, and perhaps the yes and no questions being asked are not explosive dialogue, but one cannot judge this story by the first chapter. I had originally considered cutting that opening chapter. However, in the end I decided against it. The sample gives you a couple of sentences of chapter two. You can see that the story changes from there.

I'm not responding to the review. If the reviewer didn't like the sample I'm all right with that. The reason I'm responding to this issue at all is because people are reviewing books they've never read. Reading the sample isn't enough to review a book on, and that isn't why the sample is there. It's there to help you decide whether or not you want to buy the book. It's not designed for you to review the book. Stop reviewing books you've never read.

I'm going to find out why these groups are attacking indie writers...more to come on this issue.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Serial Cyber-stalking, Cyber-bullying and Harassment Rampant on the Internet

A Minnesota man is troubled by a case of wide-spread, serial cyber-stalking he has uncovered.

Rick
Carufel has found a disturbing number of reports and evidence of
blatant, organized cyber-stalking, cyber-bullying and harassment all
originating from the same online source – a public forum owned by a
well-known global corporation. It appears to have been ongoing for at
least three years and involves dozens of people victimizing hundreds.

“There
seems to be some indication that the corporation in question may be
deliberately shielding those responsible and may even be actively
supporting them. Recently I have seen an alarming number of cases
concerning attacks on a certain group of individuals.”

It is
obvious to anyone who carries out a cursory investigation by going to
the website in question that the corporation has some very questionable
policies which it has made no attempt to address, resolve or even
acknowledge. The company’s public forums are the origin of what can only
be described as vicious personal cyber-attacks to date. Even in the
face of thousands of complaints, the corporation does nothing to correct
the situation.

While
researching the US cyber-stalking laws, Carufel has discovered that the
Minnesota statute 609.749 clearly defines the activities of these people
as criminal acts. This is the same statute used to prosecute predatory
sex offenders
who stalk underage victims online. There are between thirty and forty
people currently responsible for hundreds of organized attacks with the
intent to damage careers, reputations and income. These are not merely
isolated incidents. Instead, when the predator’s focus their attention
on an individual they keep up a sustained attack trying in every
underhanded way possible to discredit, demean, insult, demonize and
harass their victims across the internet at every opportunity.

Carufel
said that according to his understanding of the situation, these people
are committing crimes which the particular company that owns the
website is fully aware of. “It’s absolutely amazing how many people
these cyber-terrorists have frightened into not speaking out against
them because of the threat of very damaging retaliation. These stalkers
have found the perfect cover for their crimes, protected as they are by
the company concerned.”

Carufel went on to say that these attacks if allowed to continue,
will potentially cause millions in damage over time. “They are the
offshoot of an industry in transition that desperately clings to
outdated models and these waning industry leaders are not happy with the
current state of events. I’ve had reports that there may actually be
corporate sponsorships for some of these attacks, targeting a certain
segment of the industry most responsible for their decline. There is
much more to be uncovered, but I am out of resources to pursue this
investigation much further. I’m hoping to gather enough solid evidence
together to compel the State and Federal authorities to request
indictments. These people are spreading terror and misery every day and
must be stopped. Their cover is diabolically clever and they have thus
far managed to weather every attempt to root them out. Hopefully armed
with 609.749 by proving the association between the cyber stalkers and
the particular corporation, we can accomplish that.”

Carufel
stated that were he to publicly reveal the details, people would be
shocked. He stated that he already has enough evidence from his own
case to send several of the individuals concerned to prison. Combine his
evidence with the many other reports of similar personal attacks and
harassment condoned by the corporation and Carufel hopes to have a
deeper investigation into it and its system of protection tailored to
accommodate these criminals.

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I saw this movie before I read the book, but it was the best adaption of a Stephen King story. This is right there with The Shining and Christine as my all time favorite Stephen King novels. It's just ahead of Pet Semetary for best King adaption. Many of Stephen King's adaptions were not good. In my humble opinion it's about 50-50 good and bad. Stephen King didn't like Kubric's version of The Shining, but I did. It wasn't better than the novel, but it was damn good and scary. This is a must read for fans of any genre.

This wasn't the best Stephen King book I've ever read. In fact it might be the worst, which is saying something because it wasn't very bad. It's just not one I'd highly recommend. I don't feel like I wasted my time, although there were better King books I could have read.

The story line was good, the prose was good, and it had everything a good SK book should have, but it fell short of some of the other awesome books of his that I've read. The story did drag on in places and probably could've been a short story or novella.

I read Christine at 10 years old, and could remember loving it. I had to read it again as an adult, so I read it again in 2002. I have the book in my collection just in the event that I might read it a 3rd time one day. That coming from the guy who doesn't want to read the same book twice.

I had to rate this 5-stars, because this was the best example of storytelling you can find. He twists reality with fiction so well in this story. It made the story seem very real. I never once found myself rooting against the turned antagonist Arnie, or Christine.

Christine is under appreciated, and maybe that's because the movie was a huge success. The movie was great, but it missed something the novel had from a realistic stand point. Reading this novel inspired me to write myself. This book is in my top-3 Stephen King stories.

This was one of the strangest books I've ever had the chance to read. Like a fly in a spiderweb the story has a consuming quality about it. It was somewhat like a puzzle, and King did a great job of pulling it all together. I read Desperation before reading this one, so I thought it was awesome how he used the same characters in in different roles in both books. I give this story 5-stars, because it's tight and right.

This book was what I call good horror. He stayed very close to the Sylvia Likens case. Some readers of the book called it torture porn. Nothing could be further from the truth. The book is very well written, it's horror at its best, and it gets five stars from me. I recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic horror.

From the reviews I read I expected it to be worse. In no way was this torture porn, but it was pretty extreme violence, however still not as over the top as I expected it to be. I liked the story a lot, and immediately began reading The Girl Next Door upon finishing Off Season. Jack has picked up another fan.

This was an awesome look into how a legend goes about the craft. I've applied some of the advice into my own work. Especially the part about the second draft and revising process. If you want to write or are a fan of Stephen King, then don't wait another minute to read this book.